NODAWAY, Iowa (KMTV) — Straight-line winds — and at least a couple of small tornadoes — tore through parts of Montgomery and Adams Counties, leaving tree debris and damaged building in the storm's path.
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State Sen. Tom Shipley lost his home in the storm. Standing near the wreckage, he pointed to where he was when the winds hit early Thursday morning.
"I was in that room on the north end — that's my bedroom," Shipley said.
From the front of the house, the damage appears manageable. The back tells a different story; a huge gash in the roof over the kitchen.
Shipley believes one of the small tornadoes that moved through the area Thursday morning may have knocked his pecan tree into the house.
"Everyday something else just sinks in a little bit and I'm really not sure, in a lot of respects, it's sunk in yet," he said.
The loss of the tree added another layer of grief.
"Kind of disappointing to lose that big old tree because I don't think there's many pecan trees that big around," Shipley said.
As a state senator, he's witnessed natural disaster, but this weekend, it was his own farm the governor was touring.
A mile and a half to the south, the town of Nodaway was hauling its tree debris to Shipley's farm as part of the community's cleanup efforts.
"There isn't a property in town that wasn't affected," City Councilman Cliff Baldwin said of the extensive tree damage.
Baldwin watched the storm move in from Villisca to the west.
"You just see the trees going and, all of a sudden, they just take off flying. It was like the Wizard of Oz," he said.
With only 100 residents — many of them older — neighbors relied on each other as recover began.
"Everybody starts coming out and we all go check on everybody," Baldwin said.
Despite the widespread property damage, no injuries were reported.
Shipley found a silver lining in the storm's aftermath, thanks to his 14-year-old granddaughter.
"The first thing my granddaughter asked, well 'Are the cows okay Grandpa?' 'The cows are fine,'" Shipley said.
Adams County is included in the governor's disaster proclamation, allowing state resources to be used for the recovery effort.
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